During SIIA’s bi-annual Innovation Incubator Program, held in connection with this week’s SIIA Ed Tech Industry Summit, simCEO and See.Touch.Learn. were voted by 350 attendees as being the Most Innovative and Most Likely to Succeed, respectively. Citelighter was voted runner-up for Most Innovative, and scrible was voted runner-up for Most Likely to Succeed. Citelighter also earned the Educator’s Choice Award based on votes from educators across the country.

The Innovation Incubator Program supports innovation in the education technology industry by raising the profile of promising new technologies while connecting these innovators with captains of industry for mentorship, expert advice, investment opportunities, and partnerships to support growth.

Applicants were assessed for the Innovation Incubator Program on a broad range of criteria, including the education focus, end-user impact, market need for the innovation, representation of K-12/postsecondary market levels, and the level of originality and innovation. Ten finalists were selected for the program.

“This field of Innovation Incubator participants shows tremendous promise for shaping the future of technology in education,” said Karen Billings, vice president for SIIA’s Education Division. “These companies are true leaders in developing the technology-rich teaching and learning solutions educators need and want.”

More about the winners:

Most Innovative:simCEO, Jetlag Learning
simCEO creates online learning simulations where students compete and interact with one another – instead of a program – to make the environment and the learning more dynamic. Students apply skills in real-world environments without right/wrong answers. Our first solution, simCEO targets entrepreneurship and financial literacy where students create their own company then buy/sell shares in each other’s companies. Teachers keep the simulation dynamic through news articles.

Educator’s Choice and Most Innovative Runner-Up:Citelighter, Citelighter Inc
Citelighter is an academic research platform that allows students to save, organize, and automatically cite content. Once completed they can open Citelighter in a Google doc to have their research next to their writing. As students undergo a critical thinking process (research, organizing, writing) we capture their behaviors and present it back to their teachers so they can see how and where their students need help. This appears like strands of DNA, but they are strands of thought.

About SIIA
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education, and intellectual property protection to more than 700 leading software and information companies. The SIIA Education Division serves and represents more than 200 member companies that provide software, digital content, and other technologies that address educational needs. The Division shapes and supports the industry by providing leadership, advocacy, business development opportunities, and critical market information. For more information, visit www.siia.net/education.